Cost of .44 special ammo

spacecoast · December 31, 2012, 06:20 PM

Ammo Engine shows .44 special going for close to $1 a round. What is the cheapest you've been able to find on the shelf?

I have always thought that 75% savings was the best I could do (.380ACP) but having just loaded up 100 rounds of .44 special for about $7.00 a box with range brass, purchased bullets, primers and powder I think I'm doing even better than that with this wonderful but apparently hard to find round. I have seen .44 mag at Wal_Mart for about $28 a box lately, but have never seen any .44 special.

PawPaw · December 31, 2012, 06:25 PM

Yeah, I don't see much .44 Special locally either, but I make mine at home for about $7.00 a box of 50. I do have to buy brass occasionally, but I shoot that caliber in single action revolvers, so I don't lose much of it.

DFrame · December 31, 2012, 06:41 PM

I haven't fired a 44 special factory cartridge in many years.
I don't bother to calculate how much they cost. I just load'em by the hundreds (thousands) and shoot them.

gwalchmai · January 1, 2013, 12:26 AM

I've never purchased any factory .44 SPL, but the last I saw was a few months ago at Adventure Outdoors in Marietta, GA. They had three or four brands/loads and all were about $45/50. I can reload them for 12-15 cents per round.

drail · January 1, 2013, 12:37 AM

I think we are about to see reloading go from a "hobby" to a "requirement" if you like to shoot.

m&p45acp10+1 · January 1, 2013, 08:59 AM

The local gun store is not know for low prices on their ammo at all.

Price of a box of .44 Special is $38 for the cheapest box of I think PMC (May be Fiocchci) They are cheap range ammo. Winchester Super X were $49.99 for 20.

Acadamy had some on the shelf I forget what the exact price was. It was around $1 a round or a little over that. Price is around what .45 Colt was.

For the best savings casting your own bullets will give you the most bangs for the buck. It cut the price of my .41 Rem Mag from $1.50 or more a shot (factory) to less than 8 cents. Berry's Plated were running around $45 per 250 (I have 3 boxes of them still put away.) Remington JSP were around $30 per 100 (Have about 150 still put away as well.) I run jacketed, and plated with AA#9, as well as some of the cast lead. For the most part I use Trail Boss.

rclark · January 1, 2013, 11:56 AM

I've never picked up any factory .44Spec rounds either. I go straight to Starline and order up 1000 or so pieces of brass. In fact I just got another 500 .44Spec and 500 .45 Colt just last month. Then your set. Order up some cast bullets from Penn, or Rimrock and good to go. I figure $20 a 100 when all said and done.

Never have seen it on the shelf (although I never look very hard either).

December 31, 2012, 06:20 PM	#1
spacecoast Senior Member Join Date: October 14, 2009 Location: Sunshine and Keystone States Posts: 4,461	Cost of .44 special ammo Ammo Engine shows .44 special going for close to $1 a round. What is the cheapest you've been able to find on the shelf? I have always thought that 75% savings was the best I could do (.380ACP) but having just loaded up 100 rounds of .44 special for about $7.00 a box with range brass, purchased bullets, primers and powder I think I'm doing even better than that with this wonderful but apparently hard to find round. I have seen .44 mag at Wal_Mart for about $28 a box lately, but have never seen any .44 special.

December 31, 2012, 06:25 PM	#2
PawPaw Senior Member Join Date: December 24, 2010 Location: Central Louisiana Posts: 3,137	Yeah, I don't see much .44 Special locally either, but I make mine at home for about $7.00 a box of 50. I do have to buy brass occasionally, but I shoot that caliber in single action revolvers, so I don't lose much of it. __________________ Dennis Dezendorf http://pawpawshouse.blogspot.com

December 31, 2012, 06:41 PM	#3
DFrame Senior Member Join Date: March 7, 2008 Location: central Illinois Posts: 451	I haven't fired a 44 special factory cartridge in many years. I don't bother to calculate how much they cost. I just load'em by the hundreds (thousands) and shoot them. __________________ Mark Lane to William Buckley: "Have you ever referred to Jessee Jackson as an ignoramus?" Buckley: "If I didn't, I should have"

January 1, 2013, 08:59 AM	#6
m&p45acp10+1 Senior Member Join Date: May 3, 2009 Location: Central Texas Posts: 3,930	The local gun store is not know for low prices on their ammo at all. Price of a box of .44 Special is $38 for the cheapest box of I think PMC (May be Fiocchci) They are cheap range ammo. Winchester Super X were $49.99 for 20. Acadamy had some on the shelf I forget what the exact price was. It was around $1 a round or a little over that. Price is around what .45 Colt was. For the best savings casting your own bullets will give you the most bangs for the buck. It cut the price of my .41 Rem Mag from $1.50 or more a shot (factory) to less than 8 cents. Berry's Plated were running around $45 per 250 (I have 3 boxes of them still put away.) Remington JSP were around $30 per 100 (Have about 150 still put away as well.) I run jacketed, and plated with AA#9, as well as some of the cast lead. For the most part I use Trail Boss. __________________ No matter how many times you do it and nothing happens it only takes something going wrong one time to kill you.

January 1, 2013, 11:56 AM	#7
rclark Senior Member Join Date: February 12, 2009 Location: Butte, MT Posts: 2,619	I've never picked up any factory .44Spec rounds either. I go straight to Starline and order up 1000 or so pieces of brass. In fact I just got another 500 .44Spec and 500 .45 Colt just last month. Then your set. Order up some cast bullets from Penn, or Rimrock and good to go. I figure $20 a 100 when all said and done. Never have seen it on the shelf (although I never look very hard either). __________________ A clinger and deplorable, MAGA, and life NRA member. When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns. Single Action .45 Colt (Sometimes colloquially referred to by its alias as the .45 'Long' Colt or .45LC). Don't leave home without it. That said, the .44Spec is right up their too... but the .45 Colt is still the king.

January 1, 2013, 12:26 AM	#4
gwalchmai Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2001 Location: outside the perimeter Posts: 333	I've never purchased any factory .44 SPL, but the last I saw was a few months ago at Adventure Outdoors in Marietta, GA. They had three or four brands/loads and all were about $45/50. I can reload them for 12-15 cents per round.

January 1, 2013, 12:37 AM	#5
drail Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2008 Posts: 3,150	I think we are about to see reloading go from a "hobby" to a "requirement" if you like to shoot.